2. Viviana

"What are you still doing here?" Mikhail asks.

The words of my savior, everyone.

"I'm naked," I blurt.

The words of the socially illiterate, everyone.

I'm usually much more eloquent, but word vomit must be a nasty side effect of cranial and/or emotional whiplash.

Not to mention, Mikhail is handsome. Stunningly, stomach-twistingly handsome.

It's the reason I walked over to him at my engagement party in the first place. Sure, I was there to marry his brother, but being betrothed didn't make me blind. Mikhail was leaning against the wall with a diamond-cut jaw and a curl of golden brown hair that fell perfectly across his forehead. I wanted to see what he was about. Could the inside possibly match the outside?

I thought the answer was a definite no, but now… He saved me. Does that change things?

Now, I'm seeing him up close and in better lighting. Does that change things?

The same strand of hair sweeps slightly lower over one of his cold blue eyes now. Eyes that are wholly fixed on me.

I shake my head to clear away the lusty cobwebs. "Well, not naked," I correct quickly. "I'm almost naked. Barely clothed. I'm in pajamas."

Mikhail looks pointedly at the skewed scrap of lace covering my lady bits and little else. "You wore that for him?" Mikhail's upper lip curls in disgust. It's the first easily-readable emotion I've seen on him.

"I didn't wear anything for him. It's for me." I cross my arms over my chest, which only serves to put my cleavage even more on display. I quickly uncross them. "I think it's pretty."

Trofim may have been a monster, but he had great taste in lingerie. Well, really, whatever poor maid he got to order me the present had great taste, is more like it.

Silk triangles cover my breasts, but the rest of the nightie is intricate lace. It flutters over my midsection and brushes against the very tops of my thighs. If I turned around, Mikhail would get an eyeful of the matching silk thong.

I press my bare ass more firmly against the wallpaper so that doesn't happen.

"You should leave while you still can."

I frown. "I didn't realize my salvation came with an expiration date."

Mikhail roots through the mini-bar fridge, grumbling when there's nothing but champagne inside. He pops the bottle and crunches over the remains of a shattered vase and haphazardly spread rose petals to find a glass.

The fact that we're in what would have been mine and Trofim's honeymoon suite tomorrow night is becoming hard to ignore.

For me, at least. Mikhail still won't look at me.

"Why are you here?" I demand.

His throat bobs as he swallows down champagne before pouring himself another glass. "Were you not listening? I already explained myself. My brother was unfit."

Unfit to lead and to marry Viviana. I'm about to hand over the last of my dignity to ask which one he's referring to now.

Instead, I nod. "He was. But he was unfit yesterday. Last week. Six months ago. Why did you decide to finally do something about it tonight?"

I didn't ask the question with an answer in mind, but I suddenly find myself hoping Mikhail will turn and look at me. I let myself imagine his icy blue eyes burning with passion… for me.

You, Viviana. Since the moment we met, I've wanted you. I couldn't stand it for another second.

Or, y'know… something along those lines.

Mikhail does turn to me, but there's nothing but an icy chill when he looks at me. His eyes scrape over my skin. I swear he can read every thought bouncing around my funhouse of a brain.

It's confirmed when he tilts his head to the side. "Do you think I'm here for you?"

"Wha—No!" I cross my arms again. Mikhail's eyes drop to my chest.

I don't uncross my arms this time.

He takes a step closer. "This has nothing to do with you, Viviana."

Heat coils low in my belly at the way he says my name. "Why should I believe that? I'm the woman promised to the heir of the Novikov Bratva." I gesture to the ring on his finger. "That's you now, isn't it? Some people would argue we still have a binding agreement."

My father would be among the loudest of those people.

I, however, should probably have shut my big, dumb mouth. In a flash, Mikhail crosses the distance between us and cages me in.

His palm is flat against the wall next to my head. He holds his body stubbornly away from mine, but he might as well be smothering me. I feel him everywhere. Heat pours off of him and tingles across my skin.

He smells like mint and champagne as he dips his chin and whispers in my ear. "Do you want me to make good on that agreement, Viviana? Is that why you're still here?"

Truth be told, I don't know why I'm still here.

Fear? Habit? Curiosity?

I wrote Mikhail Novikov off the first night we met. I assumed he was a pompous asshole and never thought of him again, no matter how much I enjoyed the sight of him at functions Trofim dragged me along to.

No women dared get close to him. Mikhail didn't deign to talk to anyone else. He was a shadow on the edge of the room.

But now, he's revealing himself to be something else entirely.

I want to find out what.

"I'm still here because…" I duck under his arm and walk across the suite. "I'm still here because helping clean up some of this mess is the least I can do for the man who saved me."

I bend over and scoop a handful of glass shards into my palm. It's only when I turn around to find the trash can that I remember what I'm wearing. Or what I'm not wearing. Full coverage underwear, for one.

Mikhail is standing rigid against the wall. And he isn't the only one. There's a noticeable bulge at the front of his pants. A large, noticeable bulge.

My gaze drops down, back up, down again, and finally back up to the dark holes where his eyes once were. His pupils are blown wide.

Mikhail Novikov may be difficult to read, but I know desire when I see it.

He blinks a few times and seems to snap himself out of it. His mouth twists down into a scowl. "Me being here has nothing to do with saving you."

"Really? You had me fooled. ‘Touch her again and I'll kill you,'" I say in a terrible impression of his voice. "Seems like it had at least a little to do with saving me."

"You think I came to save you? Is that why you're putting on this little show for me?" He crosses the distance between us and swats the glass shards out of my hand. They rain down over my bare feet, but I barely feel it. Not when Mikhail is staring into my soul. "Am I to collect my reward now?"

My cheeks burn. "I'm not putting on a show! I'm cleaning up the mess you and your brother made."

"This is why you're not the right fit for this world," he says almost to himself. "Someone does one nice thing for you and you're throwing away your chance at freedom. You don't owe me anything, Viviana. I didn't come here to save you."

If he keeps saying that, I might start to believe him.

Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing, though. As it is, my heart is doing an interesting little dubstep in my chest.

"You said Trofim wasn't a good fit for this world."

"He wasn't."

"But now, I'm not a good fit, either? Why not?" It doesn't matter. I shouldn't care. I don't care, actually. Still, I find myself adding, "Is that why I've never seen you with a woman before? Because no one is good enough for you?"

He's silent for a moment. His breath rasps in his chest, his throat, past his lips in plumes of mint and champagne. Then he sighs.

"Leave," he snarls even as he shifts closer to me. My hip brushes against his leg.

I stretch onto my toes. "You don't want to honor the deal our fathers made because you think you're better than me."

The words are barely out of my mouth when Mikhail's hand grips my neck. His thumb works into my pulse point as he tilts my head back so he's towering over me. "This has nothing to do with me being better than you."

I swallow, my neck bobbing against his fingers. "Then what's it about?"

He dips his head. More mint and sweet champagne wash over me as he whispers, "It's about me being the worst possible thing for you."

Who could be worse than Trofim?

Mikhail seems to see the question in my frown. He slides closer. His erection pushes against the lace of my nightgown and my eyes flare wide.

"My brother wanted you for a wife. He wanted an alliance. I couldn"t care less about that. Fuck the deal our fathers made." His thumb strokes possessively along the column of my neck. "There is only one thing I want from you, Viviana."

"Take it," I breathe.

It's out of me before I can stop myself.

Mikhail shakes his head and walks me backwards. His long legs brush against mine until I fall back onto the bed.

"You shouldn't let yourself be someone's pawn. Not in this world." He looks down at me for a second before he wraps his big hands around my hips and jerks me to the edge of the bed. "I'm going to teach you why."